A new blog post from seasoned iPhone developer Craig Hunter details some of the shortcomings in the new webOS Mojo software development kit beta. Primarily the author is dissatisfied that it does not yet offer access to OpenGL, despite the Pre's hardware supporting it, which is nearly a necessity for more robust and complex games.

The developer also feels the low sampling rate for raw accelerometer data, which he feels is too low for even casual game usage. The current SDK provides for a 4 Hz sampling rate (four samples per second), while the iPhone can offer up to 100 Hz.

Palm has begun to air another new TV commercial for the Palm Pre. This new 30 second spot features the same actress (Tamara Hope) and "creepy" delivery style as the previous commercial, which elicited some interesting reactions. This time around the delivery is centered around a juggler in what seems to be an allegory for how great multitasking is with webOS.

This ad makes use of the song, "Tunnel" by The Dining Rooms, an Italian avant garde jazz group. You can watch the video embed after the break.

In the finest playground tradition, a constant in any mobile-oriented forum is chatter about the best and worst wireless providers. The latest bit of news out of the Verizon camp will certainly fan the flames of debate and add to the already heated Sprint vs. Verizon rivalry.

GigaOm are reporting that Verizon Wireless is going to soon mandate handset manufacturers to install the new Verizon multi-platform application store on every device. In fact, such a portal will override the various app stores existing and forthcoming from most of Verizon's handset partners; chiefly, Microsoft, RIM, and Palm. Additional details and speculation is available from Engadget.

Salling Software has released a new version of its Salling Media Sync software which allows phones, such as the Palm Pre, to sync with iTunes. The new sync application gives users the ability to sync photos, podcasts, music and iTunes playlists. It even works with the recently updated iTunes v8.2.1, which has blocked the Palm Pre's built in media sync functionality.

Salling Media Sync v1.1 is available now for Mac OS X and Windows XP at no cost for the basic use version. A paid version is also available for $22/€15 per user license, which offers faster syncing.

Either a critical development milestone was reached or Palm just got real tired of developers begging for access - but whatever the case, the webOS Mojo SDK is now available to any and all interested parties, as is Palm's brand spankin' new developer portal. A nice little welcome note from Mike Abbott & the webOS team will greet you upon arrival, as well as links to some basic development guides, a sample Hello World app and even a full API reference. Palm's Jon Zilber waxes lyrical on the official Palm Blog:

The initial response to Palm webOS apps - from both developers and customers - has been enthusiastic. Even in its initial beta stage, over 1.8 million apps have been downloaded from the beta App Catalog since Palm Pre was released less than six weeks ago. Thousands of developers have participated in the Mojo SDK early access program since it began in early April. New applications are in the pipeline for the Palm App Catalog, and the App Catalog submission process will be opened to all developers beginning this fall.

Apple has released a new version of iTunes today (v8.2.1) which has been confirmed to break the Palm Pre's media sync functionality. Apple's release note states:

iTunes 8.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes and addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices.

Apple had warned that it "would not guarantee future compatibility" with "unsupported third-party digital media players" in a previously support document. This action seems to make it clear that Apple disapproves of the backdoor method Palm used to add support for iTunes into webOS.

Elevations favorite rag Forbes has published a new article that summarizes the current state of the official Palm Pre developer scene. Entitled, Palm Pre Developers Unite, the article touches on the current state of the Palm App Catalog and focuses on the meet-ups planned for developers to learn the ins and outs of webOS programming.

The piece talks about a New York City developer meeting which took place earlier this week and has a few quotes from the developer of the FlightView application. Also mentioned is talk about Palm's work on the SDK, the webOS programming book due in September and the App Catolog's future ability to offer paid application options.

MotionApps has published a new blog post detailing an upcoming new feature for their Palm OS Classic emulator for webOS. Classic allows Palm Pre users to run many Palm OS titles. The company says they will soon add support for HotSyncing within the emulator. The ability to HotSync would bring a number of adnvatages including easier data migration, a simplified method for installing classic apps, the ability to utilize custom conduits and a means for backing up data.

The company says they currently have HotSync operations working over Bluetooth or WiFi connections on their development builds. They do not have an ETA for release at this time, but they do state it will be free update for all registered users.

Pivotal Labs will be hosting an evening Tech Talk devoted to the Palm webOS next week. The event will be held on July 21st from 6:30 - 8:30 in downtown San Francisco. Pivotal Labs will be talking about its experience developing for webOS and Mitch Allen, Software CTO at Palm, Inc., and Jesse Donaldson, Sr. Manager, Mojo Framework, Palm, Inc., will present an introduction to the Palm webOS platform.

Topics covered will include an introduction to webOS concepts, developing mobile applications for webOS and the Palm Pre phone and working with webOS using Agile Software Engineering Methods.

Pivotal Labs has updated their Twitter client for webOS. Tweed is a Twitter app for the Palm Pre. It offers the ability to read, browse, reply and post to Twitter with a number of features designed to take advantage of webOS. It also supports multiple accounts, notifications, location services, search and trending topics. This new version brings photo integration, added notification options and a few bug fixes.

Tweed for webOS v0.9.10 is currently freely available from the Palm App Catalog.

Smartphone accessory folks Seidio have released a new case for the Palm Pre. The Pre Innocase offers a protective case that also works with the Palm Touchstone charging dock. The new case is crafted from a hard, yet flexible material with a soft-touch exterior texture. The case itself is slim and adds only 1mm while also having separate top and bottom pieces that allows the phone to slide open and remain closed with full access to all buttons and the gesture area.

The Innocase Surface for the Palm Pre is shipping now. It sells for $29.95. It is available in Black, Burgundy, Sapphire Blue, Rose Pink, and Ash Grey.